Gothic Effect
by gothicjedi666
Summary: Yet another Gothic story were an alternate version of myself will visit other universes and cause trouble. Only this time he's not playing the villain or the hero he just wants to explore and maybe have some fun. This is the prequel to Fallout Gothic and so will take place on that world and others but mostly Mass Effect. Rating M.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: I have a bad case of writer's block for my other stories so I'm taking a break. Mostly I'm roleplaying online to exercise my creative side but I also put this story together. I always wanted to use the Quantum Mirror as a plot device as let's me create alternate versions of existing settings. So I hope this story amuses and I will try to add some action later. M rating since I will add a sex scene later I do tend to swear in my stories. **

**Gothic Effect. **

**Part One. **

**Cheyenne Mountain. Heavensgate HQ. Fallout Earth. **

The darkness was fading away and a blurry world of painful brightness greeted me. It was not pleasant.

"Get up soldier there's no time for napping in this man's army".

The voice was rough and heartless. The voice that replied was warmer and more full of feeling.

"Give him a moment Doctor the sedatives needed to keep our guest calm will prevent from waking quickly".

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body, and painkillers are for wimps!" replied the physician.

This doctor could do with improving his bedside manner.

"Our guest is not a solider" argued the more human voice "he will require time to recover".

Recover from what? I asked myself. Had I been in an accident?

"His file clearly states that he is a Major" corrected the doctor "An army major should be setting a better example for the troops".

The world around soon became clear enough to see and I was startled the rest of way to wakefulness. Before me was a robot of some sort with many arms each holding a medical instrument of some sort.

"Up and at em soldier" said the machine "the President wants to speak with you".

The other voice sounded more distant as if it was coming through an intercom of some sort. I wasn't able to tell before but now that my senses were getting sharper I could tell.

"I am not in fact the President" corrected the kinder of the two voices "but the Doctor was programmed to 'think' of me as the President. He's also under the impression that you an officer of the United States Army".

Well that was given that I wasn't an American, but I might as well answer to the title in order to find out what was going on around here.

"Where am I?" I inquired "and why does a robot think I'm a soldier? And why is there a robot tending to me where's the nurse?"

"Please one question at a time" requested the 'President' "You are in the lower levels of the Cheyenne Mountain. I gave you the identity of a high ranking officer so that I share with you classified information and finally the nurses have been dead for nearly two hundred years, which why the doctor had to intend to you".

That last remark seemed odd. No nurse for two hundred years! Not even an NHS hospital could be that badly staffed.

(Author Note: I joke the NHS staff do a wonderful job and its nurses are very hard working people)

Wait. Cheyenne Mountain. That rang a bell. Stargate. The Quantum Mirror. I'd found one and used it and the next thing I knew I was waking up here but what had happened between waking up and arriving on this world.

"Short term memory loss is a side-effect of your exposer to the FEV" explained the voice over the intercom "you will regain your memories soon. Until then I will endeavor to answer all your questions".

Looking around the infirmary which was a replica of the Stargate Command's infirmary if I was any judge I started to ask questions as I really wanted some answers.

"So I'm in Stargate Command, right?".

"Yes and no" answered the voice "physically this is the Stargate Command as you knew it but in this world the Stargate program did not exist at least as how you know it".

I was about to ask a follow up question but the voice beat me to it.

"Your laptop was most helpful in my investigation to discover the differences between our worlds using the data I gathered thanks to your WIFI I can tell you that is the world the video game Fallout is based upon".

It took a few seconds for that to sink in but when it did I became worried because I remembered then what FEV was.

"I'm a Super Mutant!" I half screamed.

I patted myself down and examined the parts of me I could see. To my relief I was not a mutant in fact I seemed to be better than ever. I'd lost weight, gained muscles, my scars were gone my eyes worked without needing glasses and thankfully most of all I still had a penis. That had been a concern as Super Mutants seemed to be genderless and I liked having a gender.

"Relax Major Thomas" ordered the intercom voice "please lie down and rest. All will be explained".

"Major Thomas?"

"Yes Major" replied the so called President "I told you of your new rank and why it was needed. Due to my programming I must refer to you by this rank otherwise I wouldn't be able to talk to you at all. Its necessary due to the security protocols that govern my actions".

Oh well at least it wasn't Major Tom.

"Now lie down, please".

I did as I was told and laid back down on the soft bed. Noticing that my bed was able to force patients to lie down with restraints, so perhaps it would better to do as ordered.

"Let me try to explain what happened to you".

I'd welcome such information.

"I don't know how you came across the device you call the Quantum Mirror and its not really important" the voice explained "what is important is that when you entered the lab that your devices counterpart was stored in you triggered a fail safe. A mixture of nerve gas and symbiont toxin was suppose to be pumped into lab. However I realized that you were not an alien but in fact a human from another world so I took a chance".

The false leader of the free world paused to allow me to mentally digest what he had said before carrying on.

"Knowing that the fail safes wouldn't allow the doors to the lab to open unless proceeder was followed. I had the life support systems pump the airborne version of the FEV fooling the system into thinking the nerve gas had been used. Once it was safe and lab was unlocked I then had you transferred to the infirmary".

That made sense, I guessed. Better to turn me into a mutant that let me die. And it was my fault really I'd packed a bag and started using the Mirror without thinking about the danger I was putting myself in. If only I had been more careful none of this would of happened. Still I wasn't a big yellow monster thing so that counted for something.

"Thankfully the strain of Forced Evolutionary Virus you were exposed did as it was supposed to rather than what I had feared it might do. No doubt this is due to the fine work of the Heavensgate scientists. Their version of FEV seems to do what is was intended to do and more".

"Sorry could you could explain the more part?" I requested still a bit confused.

"Of course Major" the voice replied "You are of course thanks to the Fallout Wiki your internet provides familiar with what the FEV was meant to do?".

"Yeah" I answered "it was suppose to make super soldiers immune to Chinese bioweapons".

"Oh it does more than that" clarified the 'President' with what could be a chuckle "This strain was dubbed the Superman strain. Its true purpose was to force the next evolutionary step for mankind. And with you it has worked".

My shock prevented me from saying anything but I didn't need to as more was explained.

"The FEV was 100% successful. Your muscle density has vastly increased without a drastic increase in size. Your physical strength can now only be surpassed by the world's strongest men."

Checking out my arms I could see what he meant. I had muscles but I didn't look like I had been abusing steroids. If the voice was telling the truth then my muscles must be compacted in some way squeezed into a more reasonable shape. I didn't feel that strong but that was likely due to the mentioned painkillers I must of been sedated as well.

"While the intelligence increase didn't quite hit 200% scans of your brain do suggest that you will be much smarter than before. You'll also discover that your memories are clearer and easier to recall".

Mentally I still felt a bit slow but again that would be due to the drugs which would also explain the lack of panic and terror I should be feeling due to my situation. I was drugged up with something that kept me calm without making me feel drugged up but I was having trouble remembering things. Hopefully that would wear off quickly.

"You will also be more charismatic and luckier than ever before".

Wait how did a virus make someone more lucky or charismatic? And how was this all evolution exactly? I would of asked only the voice wasn't done.

"The long term effects upon human subjects remain unknown; although they are all theoretically promising" I was told. "and unlike the other strains this version seems to following what the computer simulations and animal testing suggested was the most likely outcome".

"Which was?" I prompted really wanting to know what had happened to me.

"Aside from the increased strength, intelligence, charisma and luck you should also soon exhibit improvements such as improved agility, enhanced perception and your increased density should make you much harder to harm. You won't be bullet proof for example but more force will be required to harm you with physical attacks. Testing also indicates that you will be immune to all known diseases and highly resistant to radiation if not right out immune. In fact you may even be biological immortal although you can still die due to injuries".

The not really a guy almost sounded giddy at this point as he explained that I wouldn't have to worry about getting radiation sickness. Cancer was nothing to me now and my body couldn't even carry known viruses never mind fall victim to them. Plus I was in theory immortal as long as I kept my body properly nourished, it made me sound a Wraith but my stomach felt empty so I guessed that normal food would to the job as that was how my body normally got nourished.

The reasoning behind all this had something to do with my dual helical DNA structure being transformed into a quadruple helical DNA structure. Although I couldn't quite figure out what that meant as I only knew about dual helical DNA.

"In short Major you have become a more perfect human being. An example of what humanity could one day be. As the Germans would put it you are the Ubermensch!"

He stopped for a while before adding in a calmer voice.

"There is also a small chance that you might develop some sort of extra sensory ability. I say a chance as the animals the FEV was tested upon lacked the large brain capacity humans enjoy so there is no data available".

That part at least made sense to me. The FEV enhanced everything including the mind but since the animals the virus was tested on started off with less developed brains than humans the results couldn't tell you what would happen to the human mind once enhanced. Its easy to measure intelligence but testing extra sensory perceptions would be much harder because you had to have something to compare it to. Animal intelligence could be measured against human intelligence but the scientists working on the virus didn't have an enhanced human to measure their results against.

"This all comes at the price of sterility I'm sorry to say" apologised the voice "you will be unable to have children due to my actions".

Given that I had no desire to breed I ignored this and changed the subject.

"Well first of all, thanks for taking a chance" I told the voice once I'd processed all he had said "second this virus. I can't spread it can I?"

Things might of worked out well for me but if I infected other humans they might not be so lucky.

"No Major the virus did its work and by now your enhanced immune system has created anti-bodies so you don't run the risk of spreading the FEV nor can you be harmed by any other strain".

Well that was good news.

"So what now?" I asked "I am free to go".

The 'President' paused before answering.

"If you mean can you leave this reality then yes. However I wouldn't recommend exploring the rest of this world. At least not without equipping yourself and learning how to make use of power armour".

I hadn't intended on exploring this world. Fallout Earth was scary to say the least the surface was populated with things that would kill me on sight and that was just the animals. Molerats, Deathclaws and Rad scorpions oh my. The humans were nearly as bad what with the bandits, raiders, ghouls and mutants.

As I started to put on the clothes that had been removed from my person the voice kept talking.

"While I won't stop you from leaving this reality. I do have an offer to make you. If you would follow the doctor to the briefing room. I prepared a presentation for you that will explain my ideas and give you a better picture of this world. I assumed that you came here to explore other realities why not take the opportunity to learn about this one. Its not quite as the video games portray it".

Well I was still feeling a bit sluggish and while I wanted to go home and rest the voice was right I had come through the Mirror to explore, well that and to grab some cool toys . Acquiring advanced technology had been one of the motivations behind me buying the Mirror from the Auction House I'd worked in.

I was hoping to pass something I found in another dimension as off my own invention as I badly needed the money having drained my life savings to buy the Mirror. Given that I really had nothing to lose by listening to this guy as I might listen and see what he had to say.

Following the robot doctor I found myself in Stargate Command's briefing room. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was familiar enough for me to feel comfortable in or at least I would of felt that way if not for the security robots. They looked liked Mr. Houses robots after the upgrade from the platinum chip so I assumed they were just as heavily armed, if not more so.

The Stargate could be seen from this room as well but that wasn't what drew my eye. What did get my attention was the screen with two jagged green lines which moved as the voice I'd gotten to know spoke.

"Please take a seat".

A tray of refreshments were waiting for me, enough for one. This along with my new friend not making a personal appearance led to deduce that I was in fact dealing with an AI just like John Henry Eden in Fallout Three.

"First of all let me introduce myself" said the artificial intelligence "I am official known as President Paul Bunyan. But I am in fact an AI".

Score one for me and why were these AI named after American folk heroes? Was there a British AI out there called Robin Hood? Did the French have a Joan of Arch AI out there somewhere.

"When the Great War began my program was isolated to this mountain to prevent any remote hacking. The plan was that I would wait for the outcome of the war and then govern what was left of the United States of American once I could access other servers. This assumed of course that John Henry AI didn't take control and that here would be any government left at all. Your familiar with the Enclave so you have an idea of what I was suppose to do".

I did indeed but it wasn't worth discussing right now. But at some point we would because I was pretty sure that the Enclave created the AI John Henry Eden after the Great War not before. But this didn't mean that the AI was lying as there could be differences between this version of Fallout and the one seen in the video games.

"The reason why Cheyenne Mountain was chosen wasn't just because it was heavily fortified and equipped to survive a nuclear war it was also because of the Heavensgate project".

A logo of the project appeared but I had no idea if had any important symbolism to it.

"Project Heavensgate began during the 2070's although what you call the Stargate was discovered in Giza at the same time as the Stargate you know was discovered in the science fiction movie. However in this world Daniel Jackson never joined the program because he'd never been born his parents died childless. But unlike in the alternative universe Daniel Jackson visited through his use of the Quantum Mirror were he had never joined the project, in this world the Stargate or Heavensgate as we called it was never put to use as funding ran out".

That meant that somehow I'd ended up in some sort of Fallout/Stargate crossover universe. Truly the multi-verse was an odd place and the fact that I could process all this was equally odd. I found this all remarkable easy to understand. The FEV must work as advertised.

"However in the early 2070's the military of this nation became desperate enough to fund the project again as they hoped that with advances in technology the Heavensgate could be used. They already had a basic idea of how it functioned so within months the Heavensgate Project was sending manned teams to other worlds. Like in the movie they visited Abydos but at that time System Lord Ra was not visiting the planet".

No Ra, so that meant that the false Sun God was likely still ruling the galaxy or at least a good part of it. It would also mean that all the System Lords that SG1 had killed were still out there like Sokar who had been planning to take over the galaxy by force of arms.

"While you were recovering I took the chance to compare the information on your world's internet and compared the history of your world's Stargate show to this world's history and that gathered from about the galaxy. Several important differences are worthy of note".

This I wanted to know. I did so love alternative histories.

"The difference between this world's history and yours would take hours to explain and you know part of it so for now I simply give you a brief summary of galactic events and my predications for the future of Earth".

"With Ra remaining as Supreme System Lord the status quo was maintained for the most part. The exiled System Lord Sokar never invaded the Goa'uld Empire so we can assume that Tok'ra somehow prevented it".

If I remembered right they did have a plan for that. They must have been able to stop Sokar without SG1's help.

"The rogue System Lord Anubis also fails in his plans to conquer the galaxy. He was defeated by an alliance of Goa'uld under Ra's command. Given his unusual nature he may still be alive but contained somewhere without any means of escape".

In the film Stargate Dominion Ba'al was able to somehow defeat Anubis and take control of the galaxy. So there must be a way to contain or destroy him without the help of another ascended being. Unless he could fly around space faster than light it might be possible that he was defeated in battle and is just stuck in deep space. If so it would take him tens of thousands of years, if not longer, to reach a world with a Stargate,

"So Ra is still ruling the galaxy and the Goa'uld are the same as they have been for thousands of years" I summarized "assuming that they haven't been destroy by the Replicators or the Ori".

"I can find no mention of Replicators or the Asgard in databanks of the Heavensgate Project " informed the AI "I theorize that the Asgard found a way to destroy the Replicators and that were also unable to reverse the genetic degradation their species was suffering from. If they hadn't it seems likely that the Replicators would have come to Earth sometime in the last two centuries to consume our technology".

It seemed unlikely to me that the grey dudes could of defeated the darkside lego without SG1's help but it wasn't impossible. If they had they must of paid a heavy price for that victory as if they had survived surely they the Heavensgate Project would have made contact with them while exploring the galaxy. Perhaps the Asgard sacrificed themselves to destroy their enemy.

"As for the Ori they became aware of humanities presence in this galaxy due to the use of an Ancient Long Distance Communications Device. This device, if it exists in the version of reality, was never discovered so there was no invasion".

So that meant that the Milky Way Galaxy was ignorant of Earth and still stagnant under the rule of Ra. How the Heavensgate Project had explored the galaxy without drawing the attention of the false gods I didn't know but it seemed as if they had managed it given that the Goa'uld had never turned up to finish off what was left of mankind here on Earth, or maybe they had come seen the state of the place and just not bothered to make it worse.

Still while this was all very interesting to hear I got the feeling that the AI was leading up to something by telling me all of this.

"So what happened to the personal here" I asked wondering what had become of them as if they had sealed inside this base as they would of survived the nukes.

"They left" explained the machine "They found a planet whose locals were willing to take them in and they relocated. There was nothing for them here so I let them go with my good wishes. After that I shut the base down and waited hoping that one day someone would make contact with me. The protocols that govern my actions prevent me from making contact with the outside world so until you came along I have been here alone for the most part although I can listen to radio transmissions I can not send any of my own out".

Poor artificial guy he'd been alone for two centuries with only robots for company. That was enough to make even me feel sympathy.

"As for rest of Earth well you've seen for yourself. Two hundred years after the Great Wars and we are still no closer to rebuilding civilization. Oh the NCR is trying but my calculations suggests that even if it does beat the Legion it will collapse in a matter of years as its weakened military will be unable to defend it from other threats. Even if the Legion doesn't weaken its armies the NCR's leadership will be unable to prevent civil unrest leading to civil war and it will lack the means to do so by force of arms".

So it was the time of Fallout New Vegas which meant Fallout 3 has already happened.

"As for the Legion I predict that it will destroy itself once its current leader passes away. It will fracture into several warbands each led by the strongest leaders who will wage war on each other until they cease to exist in any meaningful way. If this world's events follow what your internet suggests that will be quite soon".

Yes I remembered right he had a tumour which wasn't a nice way to die but in my experience few conquerors die of old age and I couldn't bring myself to care much about his fate given what he had done.

"My calculations predict that the situation will not improve and that mankind is doomed to centuries more barbarism before a new world order rises, but there is a good chance that your species will go the way of Dinosaur before this dark age is over. Then the Super Mutants will become to dominant life form on this planet until there inability to breed spells the end for them as they will turn upon each once there are no more humans to fight or convert. After that a new species will raise itself up to become the dominant life form but that could take millions of years. Still even if my best projections are correct mankind will endure centuries of suffering and barbarism before its ultimate fact is decided. That is unless drastic action is taken".

Why did I get the feeling that this was the part were he was going to ask me for something.

"And what drastic action would that be" I asked while sampling the vacuum sealed refreshments that were on offer.

"I want you to conquer this planet uniting its population under your rule. You will then forge the people into an empire that will go onto liberate all human worlds enslaved by the Goa'uld. Once your empire spans thousands of worlds across galaxy you will go on to destroy the Wraith in the Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy. This will led to an unified human empire across two or perhaps more galaxies under your rule as the Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind".

The coffee I'd been drinking nearly entered my lungs as I heard that statement and after coughing a few times I could only say.

"Immortal what?"

"Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind".

I took a few moments to think about what Paul Bunyan had just suggested and I came to a conclusion.

"Your insane".

"I assure you Major computers do not go insane"

He must of never watched Red Dwarf then.

"But what your suggesting is crazy" I insisted "I can't conquer anything. I'm a nobody I work in an Auction House were I sell crappy art to people with more money than sense in the hopes they will make themselves poorer but hopefully not more sensible by buying the crappy art. I'm no Alexander The Great or Napoleon. I can't build an empire I'm a nobody".

"Incorrect" replied the AI sounding more machine like than ever yet somehow angry despite sounding fake "The FEV enhanced you to as close as perfect as is humanly possible. You posses all the necessary attributes a leader requires aside from self-confidence which is something only you can give yourself. Your lack of confidence is the only thing holding you back an you must rid yourself of if we are to save this world".

I frowned and said.

"Why would I want to save this world. Its not my world and I have countless other worlds to explore. The whole reason I left my reality was to escape my crapsack life on crapsack world. This place is even worse".

The AI had prepared its argument well and had a counter point prepared.

"This plan benefits you. Many humans like yourself desire two things, power and to be remembered well after they are gone. You have a chance for both. You can be the single most important person this world has ever known. If you build the empire I purpose you will be remembered for centuries as the saviour of your race. You will rule galaxies. You will enjoy riches and pleasures few men will ever know. And more than that you will save a species from tyranny and despair ushering an age of enlightenment and progress more wonderful than anyone can imagine".

I had to admit that did all sound rather tempting. But I simply couldn't imagine myself doing what the AI suggested.

It would be monumental task to unify humanity not only on Earth but also across the stars. The world and the worlds beyond it were simply to big for one man to rule. Perhaps with the right equipment and warriors to aid me I could conquer part of this world and evacuate those still sane to a new world via the Stargate a world were civilization could be rebuilt but that alone would be a life time of work. But then again I had more than one life time now as long as I didn't get myself horribly killed.

Then again ,at least in theory, I was immortal my body would no longer age and any wound that didn't outright kill me would heal quickly given what the FEV had done to my body. So unless I got my brains splattered or blown up I'd likely live long to actually make a difference.

Wait, was I actually considering this? But more importantly why would an AI meant to restore the US to power want me to create an empire? Something seemed wrong about that so I asked.

"I no longer believe that it is possible to restore democracy the world. Mankind can now only be forcible unified using violence like what the Legion has done only not to the extent were anarchy is preferable. Some freedom must be allowed or we would simply be replacing one nightmare world with another. Therefore a dictator is need but one that works for the greater good of mankind. A leader driven to save the world must be harsh in doing so but not excessively cruel in his actions. Perhaps in time an elected ruling body will be able to take some of the burden of leadership from you but only after order is established".

The picture on the screen changed to show the Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40K dressed in some sort of power armour and he was leading soldiers also in power armour into battle.

"Given your cultural background and personal preferences it seemed unlikely to me that you would wish to help rebuild a nation born of rebellion against yours".

Actually I couldn't care less how the USA had come into being. By the time of my birth the British Empire was just something read about in the history books. The idea that the United Kingdom had ruled an empire larger than the Romans ever had was unimportant to me.

"With this in mind I studied your bookmarked websites and came up with the idea for you to emulate the Emperor of Mankind. Like him you would a complete mystery to most a man of unknown origins who emerged from wastelands ready to led humanity to the stars".

On paper such things sounded rather cool but the reality of things was that mysterious characters tended to be met by fear and mistrust rather than awe.

"Being a charismatic figure with a sense of mystery won't be enough to get people to follow me" I pointed out "I'll need something to make me seem to be more than a man".

"You have it" pointed out the computerised intelligence "the FEV has granted you strength of body and mind. Combine that with the technology left behind by the Heavensgate Project and you have all you need to begin your task. I also took the liberty of having you injected with a small amount of the Heavensgate element so you will be able to control the salvaged Goa'uld. Being able to heal injuries with a hand held device will certainly win you allies".

True but that was technology not magic I would never be seen as a god-like figure if I used technology as while lots of people here on this Earth were primitive enough to believe in magic the people I would have to convince to follow me in order to build an empire wouldn't be easily as fooled as they had advanced technology of their own.

"You can always back out of this endeavour" reminded the AI as thought about how I would pass myself off as some sort of messianic like figure "I only ask that you try".

When I didn't say anything for a while Paul suggested something.

"As you seem to lack the confidence and self-determination needed for such a task at this time I recommend that you continue your explorations of other worlds and then return when you feel ready to commit to my purposed course of action". The AI seemed to understand that I just wasn't emotionally ready to do what he wanted me to do. "Perhaps after spending some time exploring other realities you will come to understand what you are capable of becoming".

That made sense to me. I didn't have the skills a leader needed nor did I have any idea of how to build an empire. However there were people out there who did. Perhaps I could learn from them. If I learned what I needed to I could come back here and carry out the plan or I could just keep on travelling. Given that I might be immortal there really was no rush for me doing anything now I might live for thousands of years before death finally caught up with me.

"Before you leave you should take the time to better equip yourself. You could even learn to use a suit of power armour and how to fire a laser weapon "suggested Paul "These tools would serve you will if you have to deal with any threats to your life. Your learning capacity has been greatly increased so it will not take you long to master using this world's technology.

"Okay then" I replied "show me how to use the power armour. Then I'm going exploring there's a lot out there that I want to see before I trying saving any worlds".


	2. Chapter 2

**Worsfold15**

**Glad you liked it. And here's the update.**

**Selias**

**It is isn't it. Something to explore in Fallout Gothic one this Gothic has learned and grown. **

**Author Notes: This story mostly will take place in the Mass Effect Galaxy. It will go back to Fallout later but for now Gothic is going to play his favourite game well second favourite. **

**Gothic Effect. **

**Part Two.**

**The Citadel. The Mass Effect Galaxy. During ME1. **

Of all the places I'd thought I might end up while using the Quantum Mirror I never would of have imagined I'd end up at the Citadel. My visit to the ancient space station would have been nicer if

C-sec hadn't arrested me and then dragged me off to a closed meeting with the council but it could have been worse considering the fact that I had disabled half a squad of C-sec officers before being forced to surrender by a second squad full of angry looking turians with big guns. And while they had taken my laser rifle and 10mm pistol from me they hadn't take my power armour off me at least so I could easily bust out of the cuffs they had me locked in thanks to the enhanced strength the FEV and power armour gave me. But given that a meeting with the three aliens who made up the Citadel council was something I wanted to happen I hadn't bothered to trying to escape. I doubted I would of gotten very far anyway given that I knew little about this place and getting back to the Mirror wasn't possible given that C-sec would of moved out of the museum by now. So meeting the council was a very good idea and if I played my cards right I might just end up becoming an important part of the events to come in this galaxy.

"I find this report difficult to believe" said the asari councillor "an explorer from an alternative universe and one armed with laser weapons no less".

"It's preposterous" stated the turian councillor "even if there are alternative universes a person just doesn't appear from one by coming out of a mirror. That sounds like something out of a children's story".

"The security footage does clearly show that this Quantum Mirror is a doorway of some kind the vid was not tampered with in anyway our visitor is at least telling the truth about that part of his story. C-sec investigated the device and proved that there was no deception involved".

"But its..." the turian found it hard to deny as the vid was shown again on the large screen which dominated one of the walls of this private room. It did clearly show me appearing next to the mirror as if the device has transported me, which it had.

"My scientific advisor has also tested the laser rifle" added the frog like alien "it is a genuine laser weapon".

"It is hard to imagine that this is all true, but the idea of there being multiple realities that are in some ways similar to own but also different in others is not a new one. Many have speculated about such things in the past and we may now have proof that those ideas have merit" said the blue skinned alien.

"But such things are fiction!" insisted the turian "he's clearly human!"

"Perhaps the idea for such fiction came a visitor like this one" suggested the frog "he might not be the first such traveller. If there were others in the past might not their accounts be thought of as fantasy and then recorded as such".

The Salarian was impressing me. He was far more intelligent than the game portrays. Already he was grasping the concept that the multi-verse was real and that it might not be impossible for someone to travel to other dimensions.

"Regardless of how our visitor got here" said the blue babe " we must deal with the fact that he is here and that the laser technology he possess is also quite real".

Now seemed as good a time as any to present my offer.

"Councillors" I said addressing the three aliens "I assure that I am both human and from another universe. I also mean you no harm I just came to explore this reality. I only came armed and armoured in order to protect myself. And I am indeed not the first person from my universe to visit yours".

Which was true if you count playing a video game set in this universe as visiting.

"And to prove my good intentions I offer you the technology behind my laser weapons I can easily return to my world and get enough laser rifles for each of your races to study".

The aliens looked at it each other before the asari said.

"That is generous of you but introducing laser weapons to this galaxy could be quite disastrous. It would cause economic chaos and social chaos. Lasers ignore barriers so your laser rifles would put every personal weapons manufacture out of business and also render barriers useless causing many companies to become bankrupt ".

I'd considered that already having already planned out this meeting well before it started. The FEV made me smarter than other humans and allowed me to adapt my plans quicker as I could easily come up with new ideas. I'd known that there was a good chance that they would refuse my offer but I already had a counter argument thought up.

"Now that my laser weapon has been seen in action its already to late" I told the xenos "by now rumours of its existence will have spread throughout C-sec. Groups like Cerberus and Terminus System Lords will stop at nothing to posses this technology and if they get there hands on it they will duplicate it. Even if you destroy the laser and even go as far as to kill me they will still seek out the Mirror and anyone who knowns about it in the hopes to obtain new technologies".

A few people had seen me appear and they would spread word of my arrival so simply getting rid of me would do them no good. They had already figured that out and would soon agree that the damage had been done.

"The only way to control this situation is to control the technology I offer. I can ensure that the Citadel races all get laser weapons which will keep the balance of power. There are even technologies I give to the council to ensure that you keep the advantage".

"We could simply destroy the Mirror" pointed out the short lived lizard like alien "we would not kill you but stripped off your technology you would be no threat".

I smiled and said.

"Your assuming that there aren't more Mirrors out there. Its a big galaxy after all and I have friends with laser weapons and power armour who wouldn't be happy if you mistreated me. I'm not threatening you I'm simply pointing out that working with me is in your best interests"

The Brotherhood Of Steel Chapter that I had befriended would indeed not be happy if I didn't return to them. Granted they wouldn't be able to do anything about it but the aliens didn't need to know that.

The FEV made me very charismatic and more importantly lucky so people tended to agree with what I had to say as long as it at least made some sort sense to them. I'd convinced an entire Chapter of the Brotherhood to form an alliance with me so I knew that I could make others see my point of view and they would nearly always agree with it.

"What would you suggested Mr Gothic" asked the asari

"Its just Gothic" I replied giving her a smile that could be seen as my helmet had been confiscated "and my suggestion is this. Take the laser technology I offer and introduce it after you've taken steps to ensure that the economy can handle it. Get the weapons manufactures to start producing the lasers weapons switching over their production at a rate that doesn't disrupt their businesses to badly. Barriers will be useless but my armour isn't it offers some protection so why not introduce it as well allow the companies to switch production at their own pace. I could even get you better examples of power armour for own armies to help the balance of power in your favour. If I own the patents for any technology I bring to this universe then for a small fee I can license those patents to companies you trust ensuring that you keep some control over them".

That would involve handing over examples of the enclaves technology but I could do that as the Brotherhood of Steel Chapter had held off an Enclave attack some years ago and had some of their armour and weapons. I could buy it off the Brotherhood offering them a wealth of supplies in brought cheaply from my world or even this one in exchange.

The aliens looked at each other again having a conversation between them using subtle signals and expressions that they all knew so well after working together for so long.

"I see the merit in this proposal" said the asari "we could arrange things to greatly lessen the social and economic upheaval the introduction of these technologies will cause. It would take time to back-engineer your technology in any case so this not an immediate concern. What is a concern now is you. As you said simply getting rid of you won't solve the problem unless you go through the Mirror and then close it on your end. We can't use the Mirror ourselves so even if falls into the wrong hands no harm will come of it".

"But then we would lose contact!" protested the Salarin "think of what we could gain from keeping the Mirror what we might learn, not just new technologies but new ideas. We have so much more to offer each other than mere material gains. What of culture and history, and science? And does it say about us as a civilization if we turn away those who simply wish to explore? Are we mere barbarians unwilling to embrace new ideas and peoples? Do we react with fear when meeting outsiders or do we embrace and bring them into the galactic community so that they might benefit from the unity that we have built here?".

I was impressed I hadn't realised that the Frog councillor could be so inspiring a speaker. He passionate words had a strong effect on his fellow leaders.

"You have a point" admitted the turian " while we must exercise caution we can not let fear motivate us. A lone traveller is not a threat he is a visitor to our universe and a guest here in the Citadel he should be treated as such".

"It is his safety that concerns me" pointed out the blue girl "he will be in danger".

The aliens couldn't deny this. I would be a target if I wandered around freely. There were groups out there who would capture, torture and then experiment on me just to see they could gain some advantage in doing so.

"Sounds like what we need is someone who can protect me and the Mirror" I said as if thinking out loud "I can convince my people not to send others easily enough but if I just return empty handed they will want to find out why so it would be best to keep me around and to let me have the Mirror close by. That way I can report back without exposing the Mirror. Perhaps a small ship, a military one might do, something hard to track run by someone you can trust. I can protect myself to a degree your C-sec found that out but if I stay here on the Citadel it could cause problems".

I'd laid the breadcrumbs now I just had to see if the aliens followed them.

The three xenos whispered to each other for a while before the frog alien said."Your suggestions have been taken into account and we have decided that the best place for you would be with one of our **Spectres** Travelling with a Spectre would allow to see all our civilization has to offer, thus completing your mission, while at all times being protected. Your own skills are formidable and your technology is impressive so with proper guidance you could provide valuable aid to our first human Spectre".

I tried not to smile at how easily I had arranged this. I'd only needed to prod them in the right direction and they took the path I picked out like they were cattle on their way to slaughter. If I ever did become a conqueror (which seemed unlikely given how little that career choice interested me) I'd likely be ruling this galaxy within five less if I deal with the Reaper problem.

"Commander Shepard does have a diverse crew including a Krogan bounty hunter of all things" pointed out the turian "so he shouldn't have a problem taking on a someone with your special weaponry and combat skills".

They must have been impressed by how fast I could move in this armour. I had put two turians in the infirmary according to what my C-sec interrogator had said and given that all turians were trained to be soldiers it was clear that I had good combat skills.

"Tell him I will bring along some lasers" I told the councillors "I'm sure that'll peek his interest".

The aliens nodded and again I was amazed by how easy it was to get people to agree my ideas. The FEV really did good work. If any of inventors had still been alive I'd be gushing praise at them and offering them a great reward in thanks, but they'd been dead for hundreds of years so I couldn't even thank them.

"The Commander has just returned from the Artemis Cluster" informed the exotic female alien "I will contact him at once. Until we have arrange things with the Commander we must insist that you stay in protective custody. Once you are in Shepard's care we can move the Mirror and you can contact your people to arrange the transfer of the power armour and laser weapons"

Which meant a small apartment somewhere quiet on the Citadel while under watch by C-sec. Not my idea of an adventure (which had been the point of me coming here) but it wouldn't be for long. Joining Shepard's crew was well worth a little time spent in the company of alien cops.

**The Normandy. Noveria Space Port. Mass Effect Galaxy. **

I'd gotten on the Normandy with a minim of fuss but so far I hadn't seen any action. It was clear that Shepard didn't trust me, he didn't seem to resent me being here it was just that he didn't know me. And to be fair he shouldn't, not because I am untrustworthy but because he, like the others, suspected that I am a council agent and not a man from another universe. Proving that I am in fact from another reality would easy enough as the Mirror is in the cargo bay but so far no one wanted to give it a go. Not surprising as if I didn't know how to use the Mirror I wouldn't risk a trip either as it could end up being one way and everyone on Normandy knew it was important for them to stay in this universe.

The rest of the crew aren't as respectful as Shepard who seemed to be making an effort in getting to know me or at least he has tried I haven't been on the ship for long after all. In fact Ashley and Tali were currently talking about me behind my back. Since Shepard took Liara T'soni, Kaiden, Wrex and Garrus with him to go find Liara's mother, Matriarch Benezia, there's not much to do on the ship while waiting for the commander to get back so gossiping in the mess is one of the ways the rest of the crew passes the time.

"Come on he can't really be from another universe" insisted Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams who was a bit more of a bitch in real life.

"I don't know I've never seen armour like the stuff he has and his laser rifle really work" pointed out Tali'Zorah the quarian machinist.

"Yeah but he got here with a magic mirror" countered Ashley "I mean like anyone believes that".

"We've all seen him use it" reminded the quarian "and he does know all about us like were famous or something".

I knew all about them and had told them so. I'd told them they were fictional characters in my world but of course none of them took me seriously when I said that.

"Its not impossible" stated Tali "if there are an infinite number of universes then anything that is possible to imagine not only can exist but must exist somewhere".

"That's another reason why I don't trust him" replied Williams "if he knows our futures then why not just tell us where Saren is".

"Because he doesn't know if our universe is exactly the same as the one he read about. If he told were he thinks Saren is and Saren is not there we could end up missing Saren when we are suppose to find him. And that would be bad because if we don't find Saren and the Reapers end up returning it will be our fault because we weren't were he knows we will met Saren to stop Saren bringing the Reapers into this galaxy".

The Gunnery Chief took a few moments to process that but she got there in the end.

"I get it, if he tells to much about our future we'd end up doing things differently and that changed the future he's knows making his information redundant".

Tali nodded and said. "Beside its not like he knows next week Council Space Lotto numbers or whose going to win Galaxy Cup this year. And I think he's nice".

I peered up again to see Ash giving Tali a look that somehow demanded the quarian tell the woman everything.

"He wanted barriers and an omni-tool installed in his armour. He didn't even know how to use them so I installed them and we talked".

I didn't see Ash give Tali a look this time but I didn't need to.

"He likes quarians he thinks were mysterious".

"Mysterious?".

"Yeah you know we stay with the flotilla which travels to places most people never see. Were hidden under the suits, we mostly keep to ourselves it gives me an air of mystery".

She slipped there she should of said us not me.

"You have a crush" accused Williams.

"Oh please I barley know him" protested the young alien girl "besides he's human and I'm in a environment suit were not exactly compatible, and I'm not very experienced with men".

As I pretended to be reading whatever it was the data pad before me was displaying as I sat drinking my coffee in the mess hall I started to wonder if having enhanced luck would help me pick up chicks. I also wondered if it was immoral to use my abilities to get laid but I figured not really as people with natural charisma could charm a woman into bed without worrying about morality.

"Well I wouldn't be in any rush" advised Ash who suddenly sounded like a big sister "the guy might be a real jerk. But with the suit well there must be ways as quarins have sex".

Tali sighed.

"Your right there is no rush I should get to know him better first. Then I'll make my move".

I'd always wondered if women actually planned out as a group who they were going to date in advance it seemed that on the Normandy at least this was true. I also didn't remember Tali being interested in anyone in anyone sexually until ME2 when she got that crush on Shepard. She wasn't that young as according to her record (the ship's one) she was born in 2161 and given that it is now 2183 she's at twenty one years old. Which doesn't mean that much really as Lira is 106 and is still considered an inexperienced youth. It really depends on how long the species lives but the ship databanks didn't contain that information although they do have a lot to say about quarian history and culture. The data was updated after Eden Prime because of the Geth attacks. The quarians made the Geth after all and they likely are getting blamed for Eden Prime.

I was more interested in their culture than the their creation of the Geth and I'd learned quite a lot. The quarians had a taste for storytelling and prized dancers. I couldn't dance but I did know a lot of stories which I had amused Tali'Zorah nar Rayya with when she upgraded my armour. She'd even installed an omni-blade for me although I'd had to explain why. They were good for dealing with husks, which looked a lot more scary in the recordings that they did in the video games, and I guessed that Tali'Zorah would of installed one for her suit soon after finishing mine as I warned her about the husks. I hoped she didn't have any nightmares.

"Hi" said a voice which startled me but I hid it well.

I turned to see the very girl I'd been thinking off I asked her a quick question

"How long do your people live?"

If Tali was surprised by the question I couldn't tell because its damned hard to read a person whose face you can't see.

"Same as humans really about a century and a half but most of us don't live that long because of suit ruptures, it only takes one accident after all. But there a few living in the Flotilla who have known over a century and a half of life".

So she was an adult then good and that much younger than me really. Of course I might be immortal so it might not matter at all to me one day. I knew humans life expectancy on average was now a hundred and fifty years due to gene mods and better health care but I hadn't really processed that. I couldn't image living for fifty years never mind one fifty and I could last longer if I avoided getting my head blown off.

"Why do you ask?" inquired Tali "worried about cradle robbing?".

I raised an eyebrow and realised that this version of Tali was indeed going to for a on ship romance.

"I was reading up on your people and the codex doesn't mentioned life spans or anything about your biology aside from the dextro-acid thing and the immune system. Which are important to remember if you take one a quarian out for dinner I suppose".

"How does the immune system matter during in dinner?" asked Tali'Zorah who sounded a bit confused.

"Helps you to remember your not suppose to kiss her goodnight unless she takes her antibiotics" I replied.

"And even then its risky?" sighed Tali'Zorah "still it would be worth it... for the right man I mean".

Was that a leg touching mine. Damn, the girl can flirt. Must be all the near death experiences I guessed, she had nearly been killed by a volcano recently so I suppose she was entitled to taking a few risk to enjoy life. She could die very suddenly after all this wasn't a video game any more she could easily be killed in a fire fight.

Then I remembered that real life doesn't have censorship and christens around to be offended when people have sex for the sake of having sex. She might not bother to do a romance plot. She didn't seem the type for a one night stand but she might think to rush into things because she's worried that there might not be time for love to blossom.

"I was wondering if you would like me to add some armour mods to your power armour" offered Tali "I could install them for you".

From the tone of her voice she wasn't thinking about increasing the protection my power armour offered one bit she just wanted to spend some time with me. I picked that up despite not being great with females and the subtle signs they gave off when they liked a guy.

If only this was SR-2 we could slip away to one of the cargo bays but this SR-1 was very crowed. No luck getting a quite spot to spend some time alone in. But it would be nice to spend some time with the girl I could do with learning about this worlds technology as while I was a lot smarter than I use to be I still had a lot to learn about and technology was one of those things.

At least thanks to the FEV I could learn this stuff had I found my way on the Normandy before visiting Fallout Earth I'd likely be fanboying about everything and would of gotten myself shot by a pissed of crewmen by now.

"Sure why don't we don't head down to the cargo bay" I suggested "I'll use the Mirror and get your own laser pistol while were down there".

As headed for the lift Tali'Zorah asked me something in more serious tone of voice than she had ever used before while around me

"I wanted to talk to about your technology. I still haven't gotten anything for my Pilgrimage and given all the technology you have I was wondering if there was something from your world that could help my people. I have a little money so I'm not asking for a handout but I can't exactly afford a new ship or anything like that so I thought maybe you had something".

As the lift went down a deck I thought about what I could give the quarian people. Aside from laser weapons and power armour (which despite its clunky looking appearance was actually quite sophisticated) there wasn't anything Fallout had that Mass Effect didn't do better, at least nothing that came to mind. I could give them plasma weapons, or at least give Tali'Zorah a plasma weapon, but that might not led to anything but being a trophy for a captain's quarters.

There were lots of things that might serve as a gift for the captain of ship for another quarian but Tali needed something special more than an exotic weapon or mere supplies. I mused about seeing what would happen if I put Tali'Zorah in a sarcophagus, would that fix her immune system? Given that she wasn't remotely human I doubted it otherwise I'd be sending her home with a sarcophagus so she could start fixing her people's immune systems one at a time. It would take decades to fix them all given that there were millions of quarians but it would be something At least if none of them went mad evil quarians would not be of the good.

As we both headed for the part of the cargo bay where my armour and weapons were kept I made Tali'Zorah an offer.

"If your willing to take a trip with me I can take you to my base and you can pick something out".

Tali's body movements showed me how nervous the idea made her. "Would I be safe?" she asked.

"Sure" I promised "its just a big warehouse after all. The robots won't harm you if your with me and I'm sure that we can find something small enough for you to carry home. Heck I can buy you a shuttle if needs be the patents for the laser rifle made me a millionaire. And I do have a lot of weapons you can take apart a plasma weapon if you like".

"You have plasma weapons as well as lasers!" the alien half screamed "this I have to see".

With that Tali'Zorah became the first of her kind to ever visit another universe.

I really should of warned her about the AI.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: ME1 is going to end quite quickly because there's not much I can do here and not mess things up. ME2 will take up a lot more of the story so look forward to that. **

**Worsfold15**

**No she will not be happy at first but when she gets all the facts she will calm since the AI in the mountain has been around for two hundred years without trying to destroy anybody it will become clear that President Paul can be trusted. **

**Gothic will hang around until Saren dies but he will have to leave after because the Normandy will be destroy by the Collectors. I'll get him his own ship he can afford one now he owns the patents to laser rifles and pistols so he's going to be one of the richest men in the galaxy. **

**Selias**

**Tali romance makes sense for a self insert whose a straight male. Ashley and Liara both want Shepard so there out of the running. The other women on board the Normandy are no name crew members and that old lady doctor. Its better in ME2 but I have my reasons for starting in ME1. Mostly because of the two year gap between ME1 and ME2 Gothic can get a lot done in two years. Plus I didn't do Tali justice in Emperor Gothic she deserves to be better written by me. **

**Tretonin wouldn't work Tail's biology is dextrose-acid based meaning her body doesn't process amino-acids that a human of Jaffa's body does. Give Tali Tretonin and she'd likely go into shock or just outright die. Also what immune system she had left would be destroyed by using Tretonin. Quarian immune systems to adapt to deal with infections over time she lose even that with no chance of recovering. **

**Some sort an nano-tech based immune system might work. That wouldn't to be hard to get and since the nano-machine contain no proteins Tali's body wouldn't react badly to them. Gothic might be able to introduce some sort of nano immune system boosters that could support quarian immune systems and help rebuild them over time as well. There's little you can't do with nano-machines as long you have people to program and build them and the quarians are highly skilled with technology. **

**Gothic Effect. **

**Part Three.**

**Ashley Williams: Why is it whenever someone says "with all due respect", they really mean "kiss my ass"?**

**Salarian STC Base/ Virmire/Mass Effect Galaxy.**

Walking out of the Normandy onto one of the beaches of Virmire I couldn't but notice how much this place looked images I'd seen of the Caribbean. Well aside from four legged alien creatures in the background and of course the salarian Special Tasks Group, you don't see many of those in the Caribbean.

"You okay Tali" I ask my girlfriend as she sits on the sand no doubt rather dizzy from riding in the Mako with Shepard.

I still hadn't gotten that used to thinking of Tali'Zorah as my girlfriend. It had been an odd romance so far. I'd taken her to Fallout Earth she'd freaked out over Paul the AI until I explained that was over two hundred years old and hadn't turned on humanity in all that time. It helped that in fact he was actually trying to help people. Tali'Zorah accepted it in the end and eventually put the gun down, not that shooting the screen would of accomplished anything but it was nice that she didn't make a mess of the briefing room.

After that I'd taken her to the armoury so she could start taking apart the plasma rifle I'd had stored away. The technology would make a good Pilgrimage gift and she now carried a plasma pistol on her hip since I'd insisted that she take something for herself.

Also it turns out that some women do it fact get turned on by men with big guns and upon seeing me with the X-5 Gatling laser she'd told me she wanted to be a couple. She must so have a thing for men with fire power. It would explain how she ended up Garrus when I last played ME3. What that guy didn't know about long range attacks wasn't worth knowing. And even I couldn't help but love seeing Shepard with a rocket launcher in ME2.

"Shepard shouldn't be allowed to operate heavy vehicles. I think I left a few my internal organs back at the drop sight" Tali'Zorah finally answered.

Sitting down next to her I put a sympathetic arm around her shoulder.

"Ah another victim of the four D's that Commander Shepard should never be allowed to do".

Tali's head turns my way and while I can't see her face I know she is giving me a quizzical look so I explained.

"Drinking, dancing, driving and diplomacy" I explained.

"You know if you added dating to that list it would be all the things that you do well and he does badly".

I hadn't realised that although my driving wasn't great given that I had learned how to drive the MAKO a matter of days ago. I was also very good at drinking given that I could no longer get drunk and I now actually had rhythm, although I still couldn't still couldn't sing, and as for diplomacy well I got the Citadel council to agree with something that was in their best interest without having to save their lives first so I couldn't that bad at diplomacy. Still I was a bit confused about the dating part.

"How's he bad at dating?" I asked "guy tended to get the hotties after all even as a woman".

"Both Ashley and the blue bitch want him but he doesn't seem to notice. He spends all his time with Kaiden".

My keen observation skills told me that Tali supported Team Ashley in this little love story.

Wait hold on Kaiden. Shepard is gay! Well I wasn't homophobic or anything but that just struck me as odd given that Shepard seemed to like all the attention he got from women. He could be bisexual I suppose nothing wrong with that but gay he just didn't come off that way...

SHIT! Kaiden might die here!

If everything went as it should go either Kaiden or Williams was going to die. I'd known about it all along but I'd not worried as I'd made it clear to everyone that things weren't the same here as knew them to be and telling them about any deaths would just problems, but if Shepard lost Kaiden he'd be devastated. I'd avoided Kaiden and Ashley because of this blasted mission but I liked Shepard he was a nice bloke who despite not knowing me at all had at least taken the time to get to know me. And he let me shoot some pirates, that had been quite cool.

Feeling angry I got up and Tali followed since she wanted to know what the hell was going on. I got over to Shepard and the alien commander just in time to hear the part about the 20 kiloton bomb idea.

"That's a retarded plan!" I said not caring how offensive I was being "If your going to get a nuke inside the base you might as well take the base. If you want to blow it up I can show you how to do without risking anyone's lives but I'll need Tali's help and about a half hour to set this up".

Sheppard looked at me as if I'd gone mad.

"Gothic a word" he said in a half whisper

The Commander took me aside and said "If you've got a plan then let me know but don't give these people false hope!"

"It's not false hope I have back in my base bombs that are a mixture of alien and human technology the most powerful of which has a yield exceeding a thousand megatons".

The Heavensgate project had made a pair Goa'uld Buster nukes like the in the SG1 show but they'd never used them. They were meant to take down Ha'tak warships, not that they did, and while they weren't that great in Stargate were the bad guys had powerful energy shields in the ME galaxy they were powerful weapons of mass destruction in any combat arena. Of course it would be impossible to take one of those bombs apart and rebuild it here in time to make a difference and I was saving the Busters for Sovereign's pals but I didn't need to I just needed to enhance an existing bomb.

"In my universe there is a substance called naquadah" I said bending the truth "that can if used right amplify the bomb these STG guys have so that it will easily wipe out this base. I need an estimate of yield required to take to level this place and about half an hour to check with guys back home and then to bring enough naquadah back here. Then we can set that bomb on timer and just leave, no one here has to die here".

Tali and I had planned for something like this in advance only I'd been thinking about the Collector base and the battle at the Citadel. I should of really had a bomb set up in advance but I didn't have time to chastised myself for that mistake right now.

I hadn't noticed my new girlfriend follow me and Shepard hadn't either but she had and we both noticed when she butted in.

"He's right a small amount of naquadah will greatly enhance the yield of a nuclear bomb, we were discussing it last night".

The Commander seemed to be considering his options as was I. If my plan worked Shepard would never speak to Sovereign and never find out the ship was a Reaper. However the AI on Illos should explain everything and if I had to that was fine.

"Okay we will go with your plan" decided Sheppard as he ran his gloved had through his short black hair "but after this you and I are going to sit down and your going to tell me everything you know".

I shook my head. "You know I can't do that. It would change things to much. But I can tell you that Sovereign is a Reaper and not just a ship. And that Saren isn't doing this because he hates humans".

Shepard shook his head "Then at least tells me who dies here if you don't go along with your plan?"

"Kaiden" I answer.

Well it was either him or Ash but saying that would confuse the issue.

"You have half an hour" stated Shepard before he walked away.

I knew that this would work and I hoped to a god I didn't believe in that Sovereign and Saren both got caught in the blast.

**An Hour Later.**

For the first time I was in the conference room and for once no one seemed to resent me being involved in this mission. The bomb had gone off without any problems and both Kaiden and Williams were alive. Even Wrex was alive which was good as he was needed to rally his clan in time for the Reaper invasion.

"Well that went well" commented the man whose life I had likely just saved

"That was one hell of a bomb" added Ashley "got any more of those bad boys lying around".

"Yes" I replied "but let's not spread that around we don't want anyone knowing I have that kind of fire power. Let's keep a surprise".

Everyone agreed with that and the STG had already promised me that they would never breathe a word about the bomb. They knew they were only still alive because of me I'd won myself a lot of friends today. I'd earned the kind of loyalty from them that meant that they would happily to their superiors in order to hide what had really happened on Virmire.

"That would be wise" agreed the asari doctor "if my people discovered that you had such dreadful power they would stop at nothing to destroy you. Or more likely they might try to entice you into working for them directly so they could control your technology".

"Entice how exactly?" I wondered out loud.

"Its well known to the asari that human males tend to find us quite attractive. You wouldn't be the first human to be lured to into a Matriarch's service by the promise of your own harem of asari concubines. A supply of willing asari, good food and drink proves to be an effective way to discourage any attempts to escape. While I've never actually seen these harems in action I have met asari who have served in them. Humans are somewhat attractive to asari females as well given how alike we look in many ways".

She paused after saying that as it did hint at her feelings towards a certain specimen of humanity standing nearby.

"Its not well known because our species haven't been in contact for long but my mother actually arranged for an entire palace to be built on one of our colonies in case she ever used this method to obtain a humans' loyalty. In fact I'm surprised you haven't already been offered such a deal by one of the Matriarchs as an attempt to control your laser weapons".

I'd known that showing just what my technology could do might cause problems later but I hadn't imagined I could ever end up being taken prisoner in a place full of hot alien babes who wine, dine and shag me into staying put.

"Well I can think of worse fates than being held hostage by attractive alien concubines"

Tali slapped my arm.

"Hey it beats being tortured for information" I said in my own defence "other races might not be so nice in their methods, so if I had to chose".

The quarian seemed to accept my point and made no further comment although that didn't stop a few of the others from sniggering.

"Anyway" said Shepard changing the subject "now we need to decide what to do next. Saren got away on that Reaper ship and we have no idea were to find him".

I knew what should happen next but we could skip that part no need to worry about the plant monster thing below Zhu's Hope. All Shepard would have to was to get Admiral Hackett to send a team to the colony with instructions to kill the Thorian and I'd tell them how. Or they could just nuke the sight from orbit once the colonists were evacuated. As long as they were warned about what the Thorian could do they would be fine.

"If you have the location of the Mu Relay I can tell you where to go but you'll need to do exactly what I say ".

All eyes turned to me.

"Saren is going to llos" I explained "the conduit is there but there is no rush as he won't get there for a while. The conduit is a small Mass Relay that links to the Mass Relay that's in the Citadel by the Krogan statue".

Everyone was to stunned to say anything so I kept going.

"Saren will use the conduit to get onto the Citadel with an army of Geth. Once there he will attempt to undo what the Prothans did. This will allow the Reapers to return in force. Meanwhile Sovereign will led a Geth fleet and attack the Citadel directly so that Saren can do his job"

I went onto explain everything a bit more detail pretty much making unnecessary to go see Vigil since we'd never let Sovereign close the Citadel now. And I could tell them more than Vigil ever could since I actually knew why the Reapers did everything they did. By the time I'd finished I realised that I could really make this save the galaxy thing a lot less complex.

"So all we really need to do is ambush Saren when he arrives on the Citadel and have a surprise waiting for the Reaper when he gets here. We don't actually need to go chasing him to Prothan ruin since he will come to us".

Everyone paused to go over my plan but there was really only one part that needed clarifying.

"How will we defeat his Reaper?" questioned Wrex "if its bringing a Geth fleet with it were going to need a lot of fire power".

I smiled and said "Naquadah enhanced nuke"

"That'll work" smirked Ash.

"Assuming we can get the yield right, yes it will" pointed out Tali "the bomb we used on the planet was a precise attack in ship to ship combat things are more chaotic".

"Well they will come through the Mass Relay as a group" I told her "so go for overkill as long as we don't blow up the Relay the worse we have to worry about is killing friendly ships".

"Its harsh but they'd all die if a Geth fleet is allowed to attack the Citadel" pointed out Garrus "most of the Citadel defence fleet is turian they will understand why we have to blow the Geth fleet up. Better we lose a few cruisers than the Citadel"

The cold hard fact was that the lives of a few thousand soldiers were a small price to pay for killing Sovereign.

I didn't want to kill anyone. I'd only killed a few pirates in my entire life and they'd been shooting at me at the time so I didn't worry about it, but I'd be killing thousands if I built another bomb.

"So the plan so far is this" summarised Sheppard as he paced the room "we go to the Citadel. While we wait Gothic and Tali will build a bomb which the Normandy can fire".

Tali interrupted "If the Normandy is going to destroy the Geth fleet then it would be better to create a few enhanced missiles with smaller yields. That way it increases our chances to take out the Reaper. The Geth are tough but they are a limited threat given that they can't bring the rest of the Reapers back into this galaxy so if we only take the Reaper down we still win".

"You can also ask Admiral Hackett to prepare the 5th fleet to come back us up. If you tell him there might be a Geth attack on the Citadel he will at least make sure that the fleet is ready for action. We can warn Anderson too and he can make sure the Alliance personal on the Citadel are prepared for the attack" I suggested.

"Why don't we just shut the Relay on the Citadel off?" asked Wrex "then Saren can't get onto the Citadel at all".

I had to agree that this idea sound good but it wasn't a such a good idea really.

"Nice idea but it might cause more problems for us in the long run" I explained "my plan requires that we have Saren and his machine master in the right place at the right time. If we stop Saren from arriving on the Citadel the Reaper might not launch his attack. If they don't attack then they will be forced to try a different plan something I can predict".

"Then we'd lose our only advantage" supported Shepard "Gothic's knowledge is our best weapon. That said it would be best to have a back up plan just in case Plan A doesn't work".

Tali and I looked at each other for a few seconds before she said.

"We detonate a thousand megaton bomb inside the Citadel in the hopes that it disables the station so it can't be used as to bring the Reapers into this galaxy".

"Plan B for bomb" I added.

Everyone was quiet until Joker said "you don't think small do you" over the comm.

"Let's make that Plan C and have a new Plan B" suggested Ashley.

"I have nothing else to offer" I told everyone " if the Reapers enter this galaxy we are all dead. End of story".

Well I'd take Tali'Zorah away from this doomed galaxy via the Mirror she'd hate me for it but I wasn't going to let her die.

"Then we go with Plan A and hope for the best" decided Shepard "and if we fail the Plan B it is".

He paused before saying.

"Joker take us to the Citadel"

With that we all got up and went to work. I was going to be busy for the next few days as building enhanced nukes is not easy. I'd wouldn't be getting much sleep that was sure which was a shame given that I had someone to sleep with but it wasn't as if I actually had a proper bed on this sardine can of ship.

**Praesidium Hotel. The Citadel. The Mass Effect Galaxy.**

As I sat on the luxurious bed in my hotel room which over looked the Mass Relay 'statue' I couldn't help but think about what I'd gotten up to over the last couple of days. I'd been busy building bombs I'd created weapons powerful enough to destroy nations if not entire continents and I'd planted such a bomb right here in the Citadel. I'm still amazed I got away with doing that.

The Normandy's weapon systems are also ready, in many ways that had been the harder of the two tasks. The bomb here in the Citadel was just a single warhead taken apart and rebuilt before being wired up to remote detonator that would allow me to trigger the bomb by starting a countdown. Were as on the Normandy I'd had to build a few missiles and modify the weapons systems.

Well I say I what meant was we. I'd had lots of help and Tali and I had grown even closer while we worked, heck even Garrus had ended up helping it was a testament to how well my power of diplomacy worked worked that I had gotten a C-sec officer to help put a bomb under the feet of the council. He'd gone as far as to help find a hiding place. Partly that was due to how desperate we all were but still it shouldn't of been that easy to convince him.

There was a knock at the door and I wondered who could be calling for me at this late hour. It turned out to be Tali'Zorah so it wasn't an welcome visitor. Also given that I was stripped down to my boxers it was a good thing it was here.

"Hi sweetie" I said with a smile "what brings you buy my place?".

I could see that she was nervous even with her face obscured.

"I wanted to talk about us" she said as she sat upon the bed "after we... if we.. when we beat Sovereign. I will be going back to the Flotilla. Shepard gave me some information that the Admirals need to see. So I wanted to know... well what will happen to us?"

This I had not been looking forward to. I couldn't really go with her I wanted to visit other worlds. I needed to prepare for the Reaper invasion as best I could. And I'd also need to be in place for the Collectors. I didn't want to mess those events to much but just telling Shepard that he needed to go through the Omega Four Relay would be enough. He'd still have to get a Reaper IFF so it wouldn't change things too much.

"Well you could take the Mirror back home with you" I suggested "that way I can check in with you and you can visit my base...".

I was suddenly attacked and hugged at the same time. A Tali shaped projectile slammed into me so hard I fell back onto the bed.

"Oh thank you" she said "I was worried I wouldn't see you again".

I hadn't been worried but I was happy as if I stayed in contact with Tali I'd be able to link up with Shepard on Freedom's Progress and fill him in on a few things.

"I'm the immortal one remember" I said "I should be the one worrying about not seeing you again".

"Bo'sat" she muttered "like I'd die your the one going around setting off nukes".

I was having a nuke filled career so far and I'd only been a professional adventurer for a few weeks.

"Listen" urged Tali her voice growing serious "I was hoping to.. you know before Saren gets her but I don't have time to prepare, but when I was looking through the Normandy's files I came across some of Joker's porn and I saw a video".

I was already having mixed feelings about this conversation. Joker's porn collection was legendary for both its size and pervertedness.

"Well its a bit embarrassing but quarian suits come equipped with... personal sex simulators built in and well basically I can make that part of me vibrate on a high setting it can be felt outside of the suit so if I lie on top of you and move around...".

That must have been hard to say while sober. Even I blushing a little and I wasn't the virgin.

"I want to do it" she insisted "Garrus is on over watch so he'll warn is there is an attack so we can have some alone time finally".

Well getting dry humped by an alien with a vibrating crotch area wasn't how I planned to spend my free time but there were worse things I could get up.

"Alright then" I said with a smile "lets go to bed".

We went to bed but neither of us got much in the way of sleep given that Saren decided now would tonight would be a good time to attack. I least I got humped a few times first had the turian interrupted that he would have been in for a world of hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lord Edric **

**A man of good taste. **

**Gothic had Goa'uld personal shields but not the ship kind. He won't make use of the personal kind until later as he'd need to install the hand device into the armour he wears and that's beyond his skill right now. **

**Guest**

**No it wouldn't be. But he can't move ships around so that won't happen. But adding Goa'uld tech to a ME ship makes much more sense. Take the cloaking device and hyperdrive from a Goa'uld cargo ship install them on a small ME ship and Gothic can go anywhere. **

**Selias**

**Shepard meeting the Thorian is unnecessary as Shepard doesn't need the cipher as Gothic knows more what is going on than the beacons could ever explain. And the Thorian is easily dealt with once you know how. Damn forgot about the Cerberus labs I really should mention those at some point. **

**Tylermech66**

**I think my nano-machine idea is the way to go as the nano-machines can just be injected into the body. Although still please do throw ideas my way I do like to know that people read my work and think about it. **

**Silverscale**

**Great minds think alike and so do we :)**

**Worsfold15 **

**I made Tali kinky ;) **

**In short the scene went like this. Paul introduced himself Tali pulled a gun. Paul and Gothic calmed her down. Then Tali just ignored the AI so she could play with an energy weapon. Didn't seem important enough to slow the story down.**

**Gothic Effect. **

**Part Four. **

**The Praesidium/The Citadel/The Mass Effect Galaxy.**

The Praesidium was a mess to say the least. Saren's attack had not been a surprise but it had still been overwhelming due to the amount of numbers the rogue Spectre had at his command.

"I think I made a mistake!" I shouted over the sound of gunfire as Tali and I hid behind the one of barricades we'd built to block the stairs which led up to the council chambers. Given was what happening I was very glad the executor had agreed to let us set them up. He'd hadn't believed that the Mass Relay in Praesidium was real but Spectre authority can get you far and I'd helped by working my charms upon the executor.

"What mistake!" half screamed my partner as she stopped trading fire a Geth.

A very loud boom filled the air as Garrus fired his sniper rifle from further up the steps. A Geth's flash-light head exploded less than a heartbeat later which lessened the amount of fire pinning me and my girlfriend down as the other Geth moved for cover.

"I forgot to take into account that Saren wouldn't be rushed into using the Conduit if he wasn't being chased by Shepard. Since he got more time he was able to organise his attack better" I explained answering Tali's question "also he seems to have a lot more Geth than I thought he would".

Foolishly I really hadn't taken that factor into account I'd assumed that the Alliance soldiers that Admiral Anderson had placed under Shepard's command (at my suggestion) alongside with anyone from the Normandy who was not required to fly the ship into battle would be more than enough to gun Saren's forces down as soon as they arrived.

Sadly in real life the bad guys are smarter than in films and video games. The rogue Spectre had made sure that the Colossus Geth went first in order to secure his arrival. The tank like Geth platforms had shrugged off the laser fire and blasted apart quite a few Alliance soldiers it wasn't until the shock off that we were able to take the mechs down and by then a lot Geth had arrived. My clever ambush plan had turned into a small war as the Geth, assisted by some Krogan and a few small merc groups, pushed us back to the tower and took the first set of barricades giving them plenty of cover from which to trade fire with us. I was really wishing the Commander was with us right now as we could do with the extra firepower.

But Shepard was waiting for Saren in the council chambers along with Ashley and Kaiden leaving me in charge down here. It was important to have Shepard in the Citadel's control room in case Saren made it past us.

At the end of ME1 the video game battling Saren's army was quite a fun challenge, but in real life it was a nightmare the Geth were killing anything that moved and C-sec had its hands full just trying to stop the civilians from rioting. The fleeing civilians made it impossible for more troops to get to the Praesidium as while the Citadel was a big place it was also filled with people meaning that the turians couldn't just march the troops they had posted here right to the Praesidium.

All in all I had decided that self inserts a lot more fun when someone else is the one risking their lives Actually being a battle is fucking scary. I might be immortal, immune to disease, be one the strongest human beings alive and by far the toughest but one well aimed sniper shot would end my life even with the power armour and barriers protecting me.

It was such a shame that the FEV didn't actually make me Superman if it had I'd likely of handled all these Geth by now and be kicking Nazara's metal backside right back into the void between galaxies before finishing off his friends.

Well maybe not something that impressive but I'd least be able to turn these Geth and mercenaries into a collection of spare parts and bloody chunks of meat.

"At least these aren't Rachni or those Thorian zombies things" commented the blue girl who had made her way over to us "compared to what we had to deal with when facing Cerberus a few Geth are a welcome change of place".

I'd forgotten that Shepard had taken time to investigate Cerberus. I'd missed out on the start of things when the Commander had investigated those dead marines and while Shepard had hit the labs Tali and I been working with the bombs on the other side of the Mirror and here on the Citadel. It was hard to remember that it had been a few weeks since I arrived if not months so much had happened while I sat in the background afraid to do anything in case I changed things to much.

Well it was too late to worry about changing things now. The damage had been done and I had to do something about the army that soon was going to overwhelm us before charging up the tower. Shepard was good and had once held of an entire battalion of alien slaves but he wouldn't be able to stop all of these Geth even with...

A great roar then filled the air I looked to see Wrex leading a group of his fellow Krogan into battle. I had no idea how Wrex had been able to convince these Krogan (who must be living on the station) to follow him into battle but I was very glad that he had managed it. The dozen or so Krogan charged into the fight and turned the tide of this little war in a matter of moments. A Krogan charge is feared for a reason and I was finding out why first hand. I'd never seen a person head-butt another person to death but Wrex did it. A turian mercenary had his skull collapsed in a single blow before his body was thrown into a Geth hard to enough to send both bodies into the lake.

Rallied by the sudden appearance of badly needed reinforcements the Alliance soldiers pushed forward and retook the first barricade, which meant that we once more had the Conduit surrounded. Now we had them contained it was just a matter of time before Saren was mine. He would have to appear soon and then my laser rifle would be his end.

Then I heard an explosion (not an odd sound around here) but it came from behind. I turned to see Garrus falling down the stairs which led up to where Shepard, Ashley and Kaiden were waiting as a last line of defence. I also saw Saren he'd clearly been the one to send his fellow turian flying.

I opened fire red hot laser blasts chased the rogue Spectre as he went up the tower to were Shepard was waiting for him.

"Sovereign is done!" shouted Joker over the comm "and the Geth are caught between the Citadel defence fleet and the Fifth fleet".

Finally some good news!

"Did the bombs work?" I asked.

"Sure did" replied the pilot "there's hardly anything left of that Reaper son of bitch and what's left is going to be pounded into scrap by the fleet!".

This was both good and bad news. Mostly good as Sovereign needed to die but it was bad because I got the feeling that there wasn't going to be much in the way of evidence left after the battle was done. The council was just going to turn a blind eye to the Reaper threat again. Still things weren't hopeless we had a weapon that could at least badly damage if not outright cripple a Reaper and now it was just a matter of making sure we had enough of them when the main Reaper force arrived. Plus with the Normandy's sensor readings Tali and I would know how much more Naquadah would be needed in order to destroy a Reaper with a single missile

Now we only had to stop the turian Spectre I chased Saren up the tower. I would of caught him if not for yet more Geth who stood in my way. I had to duck down to avoid being killed by pulse fire and from suitable cover I started to snipe at the Geth taking them down one by one.

Saren was now half way to Shepard and his Geth were going down fast in moments I'd be on him and then I'd show what an evolved human being could do. His cyborg enhancements would be no match for the miracle of genetic engineering that is me. Although having strength enhancing power armour did help.

Just as I was about to activate my omni-tools blade Saren suddenly dropped dead. Before I could react the turian began to burn up and I prepared myself to fight that weird husk thing he turns as the final part of the boss fight only to have the husk form collapse into dust before my eyes.

"Sovereigns gone!" informed Joker over the comm, a lot louder than was needed."the fleet just blew that Reaper SOB to bits!".

Ah well that explained the lack of a boss fight then. Sovereign must of tried to take control of its puppet only to get blown up. I was a bit disappointed but I could really complain as it meant that the galaxy was saved.

"Shepard did you get that?" I asked over the comm unit built into my power armour.

"Got it Gothic. We just have to mop up what's left of the Geth up here. Once that's done we'll come down and help you guys retake the Praesidium".

"Acknowledged" I replied before heading down there myself.

Dealing with what remained of Saren's forces proved to be a simple task and in the end the whole thing seemed rather anti-climatix but I suppose I couldn't complain to much after all no one I cared about died and the Reapers weren't pouring into this galaxy via the Citadel in order to harvest all space faring sentient life in the galaxy. In the end the whole thing left me

I know had a couple of years to prepare for the Collectors and the Reaper invasion that would follow a few months after that.

**Flux Nightclub/The Citadel/The Mass Effect Galaxy.**

"Cheers!"

The sound of clinking glasses was a pleasant noise after everything that had assaulted my ears so far today. Not just the battle this morning but also the hours of debriefing, media interviews and cheering crowds had really punished my eardrums. Flux might by a riot of crappy techno music and alien languages but right now it was the audio equivalent of a breathe of fresh air. The last thing I wanted to hear right now was more questions so it was nice to hear making statements rather than asking for information.

"To Commander Shepard saviour of the Citadel!" shouted Garrus.

If he weren't drunk I'd complain because it was me, well mostly, who had actually saved the Citadel and a lot more than that. Shepard had really done little more than shoot some robots and make some speeches. Neither of which would really mean anything in the long run.

Still I couldn't complain to much. I'd avoided making things worse around here and I'd actually saved some lives which made me feel good about myself. And of course humanity had a seat upon the council which was good Udina would represent mankind well, as he was rather good at his job and much more likeable in real life.

"Hey it wasn't Shepard who stayed up for three days building bombs you know" protested Tali who was getting drunk on the same stuff Garrus was "and it wasn't Shepard who supplied the tech which showed that bosh'tet Reaper whose got the fire power around here".

"Shepard is the hero" I pointed out before anyone could argue with the misses "he looks good on the vids and the Alliance needs poster boys like him in order to give people faith. Its more important to give people symbols of hope than it is to get credit".

Looking over to Kaiden it was clear that he wasn't bisexual but rather full on gay in this reality because it looked like he was about to get into to a cat fight with Tali. Given that he was a powerful biotic and drunk (a very bad mixture in an angry person) I went further out of my way to defuse the situation.

"It was Shepard who saved Eden Prime" I reminded everyone "It was Shepard who saved you Tali. It was Shepard who saved Liara. It was Shepard who stopped a new round of Rachni wars. And it was Shepard who... did some other stuff that I'm sure we can all read about on the extranet".

I'd just seen Shepard enter the bar so I decided to stop singing his praises as he was a modest bloke.

"And I couldn't of done any of that without help" added the first human Spectre "now whose drinking what cause I'm buying".

For a guy who knew he was going to get spaced soon he was in a good enough mood. I'd had to tell him about the Collector attack but he'd told me that he wasn't going to try and avoid it. On some level I understood why, he was trying to keep history on track so that my future knowledge wouldn't become useless but still I really wished he try to avoid that fate. But he knew the galaxy would need him so he was going to let himself get spaced.

We'd discussed the situation and made plans in case he couldn't be restored to life. If needs be I could clone him. If he didn't end up in Cerberus hands I'd create a clone. That wouldn't be to hard given that cloning was rather easy for me given the Heavensgate project, they had the tech and I had a blood, hair and salvia samples stashed back my home base.

If I weren't with Tali I'd be thinking about making my own femShepard. Altering the gender of a clone would be easy enough. Heck I might just do it anyway if one Shepard was good two had to be better and a female clone would be more a like a sister to this Shepard than an imposter.

I'd suggested cloning him now and letting the clone get spaced while the real Shepard spent the next two years under a false identity helping me to prepare for the Reapers. But Shepard was a decent bloke who wouldn't allow a clone to die for him. Stupid noble idealists.

"So where do we go from here?" asked Ashley once the group was all sitting down with a drink in hand "we know the rest of the Reapers are still out there. What are we going to do about it?".

Shepard answered this one.

"For now the Normandy is going to be sent out to deal with the remaining Geth. I just got my orders from Hackett but those of us not serving the Alliance should do what we can to prepare".

The Spectre gave me a look and I knew what it meant.

"Tali is going back to the Migrant Fleet. The quarians have the biggest fleet in the galaxy so it makes sense to get them on board" I said explaining what she and I would be up to "Naturally I am going with her so I can help to start arm them with Naquadah enhanced weapons. That will take years but when the Reapers get here I hope to have the Flotilla ready to fight".

Part of me knew that the getting the quarian race on my side would involve helping them to retake their home world which would mean helping them wipe out the Geth but given the awful ending this trilogy had there was a good chance that the Geth would end up being wiped out anyway.

"What about the rest of us?" inquired Wrex "how are we going to prepare?"

Again I answered this question.

"Well even if I Tali and I can get the Flotilla ready were going to need troops for the coming war. The Reapers want to harvest us not just wipe us out so we can expect ground fighting as well and who better to fight Husks than the Krogan".

"Uniting my people won't be easy" replied Wrex "but I'll try".

"I can help" I offered "I can get you weapons, supplies and I can't imagine anyone better suited to knocking some sense into your people than you Wrex".

The Krogan took a moment to decide if that was an insult or not before accpeting my aid with a simple nod.

"Well C-sec didn't fire me so I guess I'll be saying here. I can try to get turian support for what were going to do but I don't have high hopes" commented Garrus Vakarian.

He was right to sound so unenthusiastic. Once the shock wore off the official story would be on the news and he would find that no one believed in the Reapers. Sovereign would soon become nothing more than a Geth flagship, despite the fact that the Geth clearly don't have the technology to build such a thing, and Saren would be considered a rogue who tried to seize power for himself rather than the puppet of something far more dangerous.

That the politicians would do this wasn't so surprising. If the galaxy was told the truth people would panic and it would be almost impossible to put up any resistance against the Reapers if galactic civilization collapsed due to fear. I didn't agree with this idea but I couldn't understand why the council would lie to everyone, including themselves about the threat of the Reapers.

Liara was far being quiet about what she planned to do. I suspected that she would stay on the Normandy until the end in order to be close to Shepard. Not just because she was attracted to him but also because of his connection to the Prothans and of course the loyality all of us felt towards the Commander.

"Looks like were all going our separate ways" said Ash in a mournful tone of voice.

"I'm sure we will all met again" I said with a knowing smile on face "if nothing else Shepard will need us when the Reapers finally get here. I mean who else is going to be crazy enough to fight alongside him"

Everyone laughed and this joke and the mood lightened. We all knew that things weren't going to be easy but for now that didn't matter. We were all on a break for now and could afford to spend some just having fun. The problems of the future, for now, belonged to the future. Tonight would be about having fun. Looking at Tali I knew that she was thinking the same thing. I was so getting dry humped again.

Author Notes: A rather anti-climatic ending for ME1 but the story is only just starting so it was hardly going to be that thrilling. Things will get more action based I promise as the story will skip to ME2 in the next chapter and will find out what Gothic and Tali'Zorah got up to while Shepard was dead. To be honest I wanted to rap up this part of Mass Effect as quickly as possible given that its ME2 that is important to this story but I hope everyone is to disappointed.


	5. Chapter 5

Author Note.

A quick chapter to start ME2 hope you all enjoy.

WarmasterSamiel

I never see the point of an SI story that sticks to close to the cannon plot its kind of makes it all rather pointless sure having things happen in the SI story that are close to cannon events makes sense but writers should shake things up a bit.

Just the shields wouldn't be enough you'd need to power them as well but then again they don't need to be that powerful to stand up to Reapers who don't even throw around megatons worth of fire power.

Silverscale

Well I don't need designs for this story yet but do send them to me (assuming you already didn't and I forgot) I might be able to use them later or at least I can use them in Fallout Gothic.

Selias

Kaiden will indeed be pissed but eh who cares they will make up during ME3

Yes he will be exploring other universes but I won't be writing about it much as this is a ME story. However I can always devote a chapter to a past adventure if you would like just throw an idea at me.

The Thorian stops indoctrination sure but it does that by enslaving you and putting spores inside your body. So not worth it if you can just find a way to block the indoctrination signal via some sort mechanical shielding.

Worsfold15

The update took a while due to a case of writers block and real life stuff happening to me but its here at least.

**Gothic Effect. Part Five.**

**The Human Colony Freedom's Progress. **

Tali and I looked over the plans for this colony as the rest of the quarian strike team reloaded their weapons and checked their suits for any damage.

"We need to be careful Veetor might of reprogrammed the heavy mechs" I warned the quarian marines just as the door opened.

"Shepard right on time" I said cheerfully as the Commander and the two Cerberus personal with him entered the room.

"Tali, Gothic" the officially dead SPECTRE replied in surprise "what are you guys doing here?".

Once the Cerberus operatives and the Commander lowered their weapons I pulled out a zat and shot Jacob and Miranda. Shepard raised his own weapon but Tali stopped him.

"Its okay Shepard its just a stun weapon, we need to talk to you alone. The Illusive Man can't be allowed to find out what we are up to.".

Shepard's pistol returned to its downwards facing position but he kept his grip on the weapon.

"What's going on here?" the Commander demanded to know.

Before answering him I addressed the soldiers as they were awaiting orders.

"Go and get Veetor, and watch out for those heavy mechs use the grenades I gave you. Once you have him get back to the ship we can't stay long because if an Alliance ship arrives and finds us here it will be a diplomatic nightmare, and guess who the Admiralty Board will blame.

The fact that a group of quarian soldiers were obeying a human clued Shepard somewhat as to what was going on in my life these days.

"Your working with quarians".

Since I wasn't wearing the helmet that came with the Brotherhood style power armour the Alliance Commander could see the smile I had on my face when I told him something that surprised him.

"Well I did marry a quarian so it makes sense that I spend time with her. Come on we can talk on my ship".

The SPECTRE followed Tali and I leaving the two Cerberus operatives behind without a second thought. Not that surprising as I'd warned him about what organisation was like and now that he had reunited with some of his friends he would no longer feel that needed anything from Cerberus but sadly that wasn't to be we'd need them for a while longer.

As the three of us moved to the landing field I could hear gunfire and explosions it seemed that the heavy mechs had been quickly dealt with and the quarians marines would soon have Veetor on board the ship.

"I cloaked the ship when it reported that your shuttle was entering orbit" I told Shepard to explain why the landing pad was empty "I'm just glad your shuttle didn't land on my ship that would have been embarrassing".

One of the great things about having Tali'zorah for a wife was that she was a genius when it comes to making my life easier (and sometimes kinkier) using technology. Thanks to her I was able to de-cloak my ship using my omni-tool which saved a lot of effort as its really awkward when you forget the verbal code which makes the ship visible.

The modified cargo ship appeared as if by magic before us and Shepard who'd never seen a ship form another universe was suitable impressed although that may have had something to do with the craft appearing from thin air.

"Its looks a little strange on the outside but its better on the inside".

"That's the Millennium Falcon" pointed out Shepard.

I smiled and explained further.

"Actually its just a copy. Its really a combination of technology from a few different universes put together. Due to all the different technologies used to build it, a sleeker design wasn't possible and as it was going to end up looking like a heap of junk anyway so I decided to copy the fastest looking hunk of junk in galaxy".

"That's the Millennium Falcon" pointed out Shepard "I collect model ships and I know my 2D science fiction, that's the Millennium Falcon"

"I think I broke him" I said to wife who was also not happy about my choice in personal craft.

"He'll recover" she assured "and did you really have to use a ship from one of Earth's most famous movies? Do you know how it embarrassing it is to be called Tali'zorah Nar Millennium Falcon? Even my own people thinks its a joke and then didn't know about Star Wars until had me copy your DVD collection into Vid formats. I didn't even know until after we'd finished building the ship and than sat down to watch the Vid".

"It was my turn to host movie night" I pointed out "and I thought you liked the Star Wars films".

"I liked the Phantom Menace" she said teasing me"that Jar Jar Binks he makes me laugh".

My glare became one that promised much in the way of doom.

"I hate you" I told my wife.

"That's not what you said last night when I suggested we...".

Shepard came out of whatever little world he'd been living in just in time to stop Tali mentioning one of many things we got up behind closed doors.

"Okay that's enough you two!" he said angrily before lightening up "I want to see the inside so open it up".

"Oui mon seigneur!" I replied as I opened the ramp using the remote control in my omni-tool.

"Welcome home" greeted the ships VI as we entered the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.

It was pretty much the same as the film version of the ship only the controls were a mixture of 3D interfaces and goa'uld crystals which would allow me to fly the ship with my mind while the weapons systems and scanners were handled by other people.

"Sit down" I told the Commander before I turned to the wife and said"Go get your team inside I'll have the infirmary prepare for a dextrose acid patient".

Well calling it an infirmary was generous its was more like a small nurse's office run by a Fallout robot but it was the best I could do. The Mirror didn't allow for the easy transfer of goods.

Tali left and shut the door behind her while I sent a text message to the ship's 'doctor' I then sent a text message to another member of the crew telling her wait outside the door so she could be introduced to Shepard when the time was right.

"Right we have a few minutes before Tali gets back so I'll explain what the hell is going on these days".

While saying that I checked the sensors and saw that a group of life signs were heading for the ship all quarians. The two human life signs weren't moving so we did indeed have time.

"The aliens who are attacking human colonies are called the Collectors" I explained "they are what's left of the Prothans only there little more than husks now, puppets for a Reaper called Harbinger. They have a base near the core of the galaxy near a black hole protected by a massive Mass Effect Field".

"If you know where they are then why haven't you blown the bastards up?" asked Shepard.

"Because I don't where in the galactic core the base is" I answered "a galaxy is a big place and the core is dangerous one miss calculated jump and that's then end of the ship I spent over a year helping to building".

Well Tali had done most of the work but that was her idea of a honeymoon so it didn't count as work in my view.

"I know it can be reached via the Omega Four Relay but that requires a Reaper IFF and the only two IFFs around are on the Collector ship or on board a dead Reaper which I can't find".

Well that was a lie I did know where it was I just intended to let Cerberus do all the work in cracking the thing open. Plus I needed to

Trust me I could I would have sent the biggest bomb I could through that relay and blown all the Collectors to pieces"

That might not of actually done much normally but given that my bombs had weapons grade naquadah in them they made for quite impressive booms.

Plan A for dealing with the Reapers involved lots of naquadah and lots of bombs.

Also I had a ZPM going spare so I could of blown that up and destroy a good part of a solar system but I was saving that surprise for the Reapers. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed but it was always best to have a plan B.

"So we need an IFF" figured Shepard easily enough "I hope you have a plan".

I snorted and said.

"Of course I have a plan your just not going to like it. You need to work with Cerberus for a while longer".

Shepard swore quite a bit proving that he was a foul mouthed sailor at times.

"I don't like it either" I told the N7 marine "but Cerberus will led us to the Collectors who will get us to both IFFs one will led the ship they supply you with to getting bored by the Collectors but my ship can cloak so they won't find it and we can use this ship to take out the Collector base".

Now came the part that might concern him

"Tali and I will take the Falcon and met you at Omega while you use the ship Cerberus provides for a while".

"I'm not sure about this Gothic" he protested "I can't trust Cerberus not after what they have done".

"We need them as they will fund the mission and get us the team we need to take down the Collectors" I pointed out "Then once we don't need them anyone we take all the bastards down hard. When the smoke clears we simply say that you were working to take both Cerberus and the Collectors all along".

"But you stunned my babysitters won't they just report that we met to their boss. If the illusive man suspects I'm getting outside help your plan could go very wrong".

I could understand hsi concern but it wasn't necessary.

"I picked up a sort of memory eraser" I told the SPECTRE "It'll wipe their memory and then you can just tell them the mechs knocked them out. As long you hand over the data that Veetor has we'll be fine".

I'd already collected some samples for Mordin so that was handled at least. And Tali had already transmitted Veetor's data to me so I could transfer it to Shepard.

"Okay I'll go along with your plans for now" agreed Shepard "but you better have my back I don't trust The Illusive Man not to stab me in mine".

I gave the Commander my most charming smile.

"Once you arrive at Omega I'll be able to join you along with another old friend. Don't worry I'll be right at your side getting shot at and hit on just like the old days".

Shepard flashed me his own smile winning smile.

"Nah your just here to make me look even more pretty and stylish by comparison".

I noticed that it was nearly time for us to leave but there was another bombshell I wanted to drop on the Commander.

"You remember that I planned to clone you if something went wrong and we needed another Shepard?"

John nodded to confirm that he did. It hadn't been an easy choice to make.

"Well I wanted to experiment a little" I said as I pressed a button that opened the cockpit's door to show the clone but she wasn't quite the clone that my friend had expected.

"Err she's a girl" pointed out Shepard "why is my clone a girl?"

I felt it wise to explain fast.

"Well I got bored and I wanted to see what I could do with your DNA and limited exposer to the FEV. She's just as smart, as fast and as deadly as you. She's as strong as you are despite being a half your size and female. And thanks to the FEV she's immortal and she heals really fast. Oh and I named her Jane"

I'd made my own FemShepard just in case the galaxy needed saving again Thinking about that always made me smile and I was rather proud of my work.

"She looks nothing like me" protested the male Shepard.

"Yes I do" protested the sort of clone "I just take after Mum more".

Well the guy Shepard had a point. Jane was shorter and slimmer than him she also had brilliant red hair and bright green eyes. Were as John was tall, and built like a pro-wrestler, he also had dark hair and brown eyes.

"Looks are unimportant" I said and for once that was actually true "you are brother and sister your DNA proves it. Your outwards appearances are the result of you each favouring a different parent that is all. Its what on the inside that counts. I mean aside from the fact that one of you is a male cyborg returned from the dead by a terrorist organisation and the other is a genetically engineered woman I grew in a lab there's not much difference really".

I really should of phrased that better.

The two siblings just stared at each for a while as if trying to decide which one of them was the alpha of the pack. Which was silly as I was clearly the alpha around here.

Checking the scanners again I noticed that the two human life signs were moving again and that the aliens were all inside the ship so I cloaked the craft so that it wouldn't be seen.

"You have to go Shepard" I said passing him the memory eraser "Just get them to look at this and press the button they will forget the last few hours and trust anything you tell them for a few seconds after the flash. We'll met you at Omega".

With that Shepard rushed out to do as I instructed we'd met him on Omega and then met up with Garrus but before that we had to link up with the Flotilla.

I sighed and muttered "no rest for wicked".


	6. Chapter 6

**Author Note. **

A short chapter I wrote simply to take a break from writing The First Gothic.

**Reviews**

**Guest**

Your welcome

**Other Guest**

I'll try.

**Winter Feline**

Tali is indeed handy to have around. I was thinking adding Miranda to this Gothic's harem but she might make a better enemy but then again she could be handy to have around due to her biotics.

**WarmasterSamiel**

The guns would have been hard to get to but mugging an MiB agent is rather easy when you actually know what to look for. He would of gotten a alien gun off that agent in any case which Gothic can make use of later.

Well given that he's working with them to destroy the Geth and rebuild their civilization he's well thought of and holds the rank of captain which a powerful position in Quarian society.

This Gothic isn't that interested in networking and such he's on an adventure mostly while trying to make things, and have fun at the same time. He's not Emperor Gothic after all.

**Worsfold15 **

Sorry that it took a while to get an update.

**Douchiesnacks**

Yeah but its Tali if you have to like Tali because she's awesome.

**Gothic Effect. Part Six. **

**The Terminus Systems. Omega Space Station. **

"If there is a bright centre to the universe then this is the space station that it is the farthest from" I muttered to myself.

My rather bad paraphrasing of Star Wars aside I felt the statement was true. Omega was an awful place indeed. The smell alone (worse when you had enhanced senses) was so bad that I had put on my helmet something I had doing as made me feel like I was trapped in an enclosed space.

"A wretched hive of scum and villainy" agreed Jane Sheppard who had heard what I had muttered despite the fact that I was wearing my helmet which meant that she had mastered use of herenhanced hearing. Good for her.

"I'm about three quotes away from deleting your vid collection" warned my wife as made our way over to the waiting air cars.

Women can be very scary. Threatening a man's vid collection is a true horrific thing.

"More freelancers" remarked the waiting bartaian who looked us over.

It did not seem that impressed.

"Well you at least look you could do some damage" said the alien speaking only to me. "but I'm not sure about these females. I mean a quarian, theey are weak. One suit...

Tali had surprisingly good reflexes and she proved when her shotgun suddenly appeared right before the alien's four eyes.

"You were saying" she prompted.

"Err" said the alien thinking on his feet "I mean yeah you all look very tough I'm sure you'll show Archangel what real mercs can do".

"Much better" said Tali as she climbed inside the car and took the seat appropriate to her choice in weaponry.

The ride to the merc gangs staging area was blessedly short and silent which was good as I needed to prepare for the fight to come mostly this involved setting up a play list on my omni-tool but it was important to have the right tunes when your kicking ass.

When the air taxi came to stop I could see that the push on Archangel had already begun which meant that Shepard was now fighting for his life and if we didn't move fast enough then Garrus was going to get half his face blasted off. That was something I wished to avoid as even the changes to the time line this might kill him rather than just add to his good looks. Chicks actually dig scars in this universe.

"Okay ladies I'll deal with the Blood Pack. Jane deal with the freelancers. Tali go help Shepard don't forget about the gunship"

Pressing the play button music started to blast out of my armour's speakers which did a great job of drawing attention to me which was a nice bonus given that I was the one the super tough armour and it also meant less weapons pointed at my girls.

With my laser pistol was in one hand and my ripper chainsaw in the other I charged at Krogan and Vorcha who were already moving away from the rest of the group

_Overbearing panic attack entrenching my veins_

_In an hour i'll be ok _

_I pray this pain will go away permanently someday _

_I'VE seen more than..._

_I should have to..._

_I'VE seen this on my own_

I moved surprisingly fast in the armour and I caught up to the Bloodpack mercs rather quickly considering how much weight I was packing.

_This song is a,_

_Poem to myself,_

_It helps me to live... _

_In case of fire,_

_BREAK the glass, and move on into your own..._

Well aimed laser fire took down two Vorcha with flame-throwers one of which ignited killing a nearby Krogan by sheer dumb luck, but I was a lucky guy these days thanks to the FEV.

The rest of the Krogan were harder to take down and I had to burn quite a few holes in them before they died but I kept moving and my aim was excellent.

_Reoccurring drowning effect entrenching my brain,_

_I hope you'll be ok someday,_

_So i can say that you moved on in the right way... _

_WE'VE seen this and _

_WE'VE breathed this and _

_WE'VE lived this on our own..._

By this point I was completely lost but it didn't matter as I could simply followed the bad guys, they at least knew where they were going.

Hopefully I'd timed this right, if so I should make it where Garrus was having his final stand before the gunship turned up.

_This song is a,_

_Poem to myself,_

_It helps me to live... _

_In case of fire,_

_BREAK the glass, _

_And move on into your own..._

_Your own..._

Out of nowhere a Varren pounced intending to bring me down under its weight but my Ripper moved with a barely a thought and the hide of the alien dog offered no protection against the whirling titanium blades. I got covered in guts and blood. I must looked some sort of like gruesome nightmare made flesh but none of the tough as nails aliens stopped shooting even as I cut them down.

_this song is a,_

_poem to myself,_

_it helps me to live... _

_in case of fire,_

_BREAK the glass, _

_and move on into your own._

Three minutes and ten seconds that exactly how long it had taken me to fight my way through the Blood Pack. One song was all it had taken.

The not grown in a test tube Shepard was rather shocked to see me as and he commented on this as the last shutter closed.

"You know how to kill Reapers. You can grow people in a lab. You can build star ships that become invisible. And fight small armies single handedly. Is there anything you actually need the rest of us for?".

"I had a lot of help doing all those things" I pointed out "and I have access to resources, information and technology other people don't. And its not hard to be awesome and all kick ass when your a more evolved form of life. Plus I have power armour and laser weapons which render barriers useless and burn through regular armour like a hot knife through I can't believe its not butter".

The pun at the end made no sense but Shepard got the point

"So basically your cheating".

The FEV really makes it hard to fail I was like a good luck charm on legs thanks to the enhancements. It was really was cheating but I didn't care as all that mattered was making sure that the Reapers didn't wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy keeping Garrus alive would aid in that mission so if a bunch of thugs had to die to make that happen then that was fine with me.

"Yep John" I replied "I am cheating"

There was no more time for talk as I heard the sound of an incoming gunship even as Jane killed the big bad Krogan boss.

Male Shepard followed my led as I sprinted up the stairs. I made it time to cover Garrus with my Goa'uld personal force field which was great for soaking up weapons fire.

It also only stopped fire entering the shield so there was nothing to stop me from shooting the gunship but there was no need as Tali had the situation well in hand.

Over the last two years Tali had been experimenting with lots of the technology that I found in other universes and not all of her work had been about building the Falcon some of her time was invested in making weapons that would be super effective against the Geth.

I called it an ion gun but that was just a name. The weapon was pistol sized and looked far more like ray gun than anything else this science fiction universe had to offer. What it did was fire some sort of energy which disabled any machine it touched.

How this worked was unknown to me as despite having a very high intelligence I really didn't that much about weapons technology. I knew a little about all kinds of kinds science and technology but more talented scientists than myself had done most of the work my projects required. All I knew for certain was that the ion cannon worked and that it worked really well.

While the two Shepards gunned down the blue armoured mercs who had abseiled down the side of the building. Tali fired a charged shot from the ion cannon which upon impact made the gunship crash as it had lost its ability to defy the cruel mistress that is gravity.

I switched off the personal shield and greeted Archangel.

"Hey Garrus long time no see".

**The SSV Normandy II. Starboard Cargo Bay. **

"The Illusive Man would pay well for the chance to examine your technology" Miranda Lawon was saying as she help me to half undress, half climb out of my powered armour.

"I'm sure he would Miss Lawson, but his money has little use to me. I own the patents for every bit of technology required for laser weapons".

Lasers were expensive so not even the big merc groups had that many laser weapons but that was mostly to do with militarises of the different races keeping tight control over them rather than simply a matter of cost.

"There are other things" she offered one I was free of the armour.

Her tone of voice and body language suggested something that would involve nakedness but that wasn't what her words offered.

"We've noticed that your buying up a lot supplies for the Migrant Fleet even someone as rich as you can't support a nation of nomads" reasoned Lawson "At least not for very long. Cerberus could help you".

Actually I wasn't supporting the Flotilla, at least not in that way. The quarians had been taking care of themselves as nomads for hundreds of years they didn't need my help for that. No the supplies I'd been buying were for the war against the geth which again they could of handled themselves but my aid would ensure less quarian losses later and make me a hero to many of the aliens.

That was important because I was going to need their aid once I got around to restoring Fallout Earth and conquering the Stargate galaxy. The Gould wouldn't be that hard to overthrow, not with all I knew about them and their rather feudal society, but it would be a costly war and quarian assistance would invaluable.

Plus there was the whole matter of the Reapers making use of the geth as weapons against the rest of the galaxy. The geth needed to be dealt with, to be destroyed utterly so they could no longer threaten organic sentient life.

Sure I knew that peace between the geth and their creators was possible but I couldn't depend on it. I wasn't a peacemaker at least not like Shepard could be.

A small fraction of the supplies I purchased in this galaxy went back to the Heavensgate project and once there the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter made use of those supplies to both keep Cheyenne mountain safe while also protecting the nearby settlements.

"No thank you Miss. Lawson" I replied while I started to clean my armour "I want nothing from your boss, he's not a nice man".

Understatement of the century.

"The Illusive Man does what he thinks is best to defend mankind and ensure its future" defended Miranda.

But the problem there was that he would go to far and lose sight of what should really be motivating his actions. He'd forget why he was acquiring power and end up misusing it.

Still the organisation could be of some use to me or at least the parts of it that really cared for humanity could be. The rest would have to be destroyed.

"Its such a shame that your not more ambitious Miss Lawson" I said idly "The Illusive Man isn't someone I can work with but you could be very useful to me if only you were willing to see the bigger picture".

"And what bigger picture would that be?" asked the Cerberus operative who sounded rather intrigued by what I was saying.

"That humanity is under threat in many different ways across many different universes and someone has to do something about it. If you truly do support ideals of Cerberus then you'd be working for me".

Got to love being enhanced in both luck and charisma it really makes it easier to get people to open up to you.

"I have my reasons for working for the Illusive Man" she admitted "commitments that I can't escape from".

"Your sister" I stated "I can protect her better than you can. I could supply her a home in another universe somewhere your father could never reach".

"How do you know about...".

Miranda never got the chance to threaten me like she had intended to. I moved faster than a man should be able to and had her pinned against the wall before she could make use of her biotic abilities.

"The part about me being a more evolved life form is all true" I told the woman "I am to you what you are to the monkey's in the trees and don't you ever forget that".

She had so little fear, that surprised me. Perhaps she knew I had no intention of killing her.

"I know everything about you Miranda Lawson" I said but not as a boast "the location of your twin sister, who your father is, what the Illusive Man really has planned. I also know why he put you and Jacob on board this ship. And of course I know your own personal history. Your a vat grown woman genetically engineered and your suppose to be your father's legacy but that didn't quite work out now did it".

"Your hurting me" she said asking for mercy.

Gently I let her go just in case I had hurt her rather than simply scare her as my intention been.

"I can offer you more Miranda, a lot more. I can take you places you can't imagine. I can make you more than you are now. I can protect your sister better than you ever good. I could even offer your father's head on a silver platter if that is what you want".

Once I was sure she following me and I gave her more to think about.

"All you need is the ambition to take what I'm offering and the willingness to be become part of something that is much bigger than Cerberus could ever hope to be".

Miranda started to leave but she didn't shut the door until I told her one last thing.

"Think about what I said and about what I am offering you" I requested of her "you don't want me as an enemy and Cerberus is my enemy even if it doesn't even know it. I will destroy it so you have to ask yourself is it worth going down with them?"

"You could you free me from my father?" Miranda asked.

"Easily" I answered.

I didn't know why but as the door to the cargo bay closed I just knew that I'd get my answer quickly. But I didn't have a clue as to what that answer would be.


End file.
